I Never Told You I Love You - Complete

Chapter 94 - A Belated Present

"Hello, darling!" Abe boomed, stepping out of the van, reaching out to help Janine out and then Leslie. Pavel was already hauling the luggage out of the rear of the van.

"Hi, Mom, Baba," Rose greeted. "You're in the same suite as last time."

It was Friday morning vampire time. Almost a week since Rose had won her fight against Stan and killed the two Strigoi. As soon as she'd rung to tell her parents about the latter, they'd made plans to come back to campus. They were both keen to be at Rose's molnija ceremony, which was scheduled to happen sometime in the next few days, and they also wanted to see her in the final round of the tournament. Finally, they both suspected that while she wouldn't admit to it, Rose could maybe use the support of her parents.

And they were right. The last week had been tense, to say the least.

Word had quickly spread about Jesse and Camille sneaking off from Vika's party to make out in a disused cabin, disturbing two Strigoi, and Rose finding and saving them. Unfortunately for Jesse, Camille was also telling anyone who'd listen about him all but shoving her into the arms of a Strigoi to save himself, and also about failing to raise the alarm once Rose helped him escape, instead choosing to revisit the drinks table at the party and say nothing to anyone.

Rose hadn't actually mentioned that aspect of things to Dimitri, but one look at her Russian God's face as he entered the cafeteria on Tuesday at lunchtime was enough to show her he'd heard the rumors.

"Is it true?" he growled to Rose.

"Yes," Rose replied, appreciating there'd be no calming Dimitri down, so there was no point pretending she didn't know what he was referring to.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd want to kill him, and I didn't want to have to go through another court-martial," Rose hissed. "What's done is done. He's an asshole, and now everyone knows it. You murdering him is not going to help."

"It would help me feel a little better," Dimitri had growled petulantly, mentally planning to have a little 'chat' with Jesse sometime soon.

Dimitri was far from the only one disgusted by Jesse's actions. There wasn't a single Novice who'd speak with him, and the vast majority of the Moroi were avoiding him, too. Guardians on campus were refusing to have anything to do with guarding him, and even teachers were ignoring him in their classes. The event had also been raised at court, the Conta clan making a formal complaint to her Majesty about Jesse's behavior. In the Machiavellian jostling for favor between the twelve Royal families, an occurrence like this was a golden opportunity, and the Contas were making the most of it.

Keen to be seen to be doing the right thing amongst the Dhampir community, too, Camille's family sent a formal thank you letter to Rose, which was read out at a special assembly. Along with the letter, they'd included an elegant gold necklace with a large ruby pendant. It wasn't really to her taste, but Lissa had urged Rose to keep it, pointing out it was worth a fortune but that it was also a conspicuously visible symbol of the debt the Contas owed. It was all for show, but at least they'd acknowledged Rose and the risk she'd taken. Camille, on the other hand, had seemed genuine in her thanks. She'd made a point of seeking Rose out to privately thank her.

More than anything Rose just wanted the whole thing to be forgotten about and for things to go back to normal, hence her joy that her family were back a little ahead of schedule.

"Are you two free to join us for dinner tonight?" Abe asked, "or are competitors not allowed to meet the night before?" he joked, referring to the tournament finals the following day.